Loose Leash Walking

I have a small problem with my 7.5 months old Lab Danny. He is the super friendly kinds. Now usually that is good, the problem happens when we go for a walk and he wants to play with every single person/animal on the street. He is a strong boy and sometimes becomes difficult to handle. At home he is very obedient and listens to me but on the street, he is so distracted that even treats dont help too much. Sometimes he just sits fast in a place and does not budge till the time I let him play with a passing by dog. Initially when he was small, this was cute but is now becoming a compulsive habit which is not good and very very difficult to control. He behaves similarly when he wants to sniff something dirty and i do not allow him. Again, he is very obedient at home and listens to everything I say. Only feels like I have a different dog when he is walking. Any suggestions?

Gautam, a choke chain around the neck is best in such situations. I suggest you watch some techniques of Ceasar Millan on you Tube - u might get some tips on correcting this behaviour.

I had thought so too and have been walking him on a choke chain but unfortunately its not working. When Danny sees another dog, he pulls so hard sometimes, he ends up gasping for breath and i have to hold him by hand else he would probably hurt himself.

i have started training my puppy to walk with me with a choke collar and that keeps him under my control when there is distraction (caused by my mom and aunt). i keep treats too. also i have trained my puppy to walk when i say "walk" and stop when i say "stop". since the hand that holds treats is close to him i have all his attention. if he misbehaves all i do is hold his collar and give it a little shake or nudge him a little saying "no" and he behaves well again. its easy to say it here but it took me many days of training to make my puppy behave well on leash and wear the collar himself.

with puppies....you need lots of patience and practice repeatedly. please get a collar like the one in the picture below. its the same i use, its harmless and better than choke chains and start to train him on a short leash first until he behaves well (may take a couple days or weeks, depends on the puppy). you can switch to longer leash and normal collar when his behavior is better and under your control. best of luck

Thanks.. Will keep trying... I think the bigger problem is that he is super friendly and has this huge urge to meet everyone he sees.. While I'm sure I will surely succed in training him to walk properly, I am not sure if his friendly nature can be helped... I would want him to be friendly but not so much... Any ideas around that??

"friendliness" is a trait sometimes we look for when we chose a breed and we cannot turn a friendly dog into something he is not. My only advice is take him out during times when there are less people and on short walks until he behaves well. when he starts behaving well you can take him on longer walks with more distractions around. first you need to work on a solid "recall" so he responds when called and next you need to work on him responding to your recall even when there is distraction. this training can be done at home with help of family members. ask them to be the distraction, make noise and distract the puppy while you work on recall. this basic training is important.

my tip#1 is to choose a very smelly treat so you have him under your control and his full attention when you go on walks. smelly treats=dogs love it. some treats you can use are dog food kibble, cheese, chicken or lamb liver, fried egg, paneer, apple, banana etc cut into small pieces and put them in a plastic bag, hold it close to the puppy so he can smell it. choose 2-3 types of treats so he has no idea which treat will be next. train him on short leash to walk, if he behaves well give a treat if not nudge him to behave well. it will take some time but he will definitely come around. so hang in there.

my tip#2 is try to tire him out with playing fetch or something before you go on walks so he is low on energy.

Thanks.. Yeah, most of it is already stuff that i have started doing.. I take him for a walk at 5:30 in the morning.. Any sooner and the street dogs will be after us...
Due to my work timings, unfortunately, i cant take him for too many short walks.. Has to be just the one loooong walk which is about 4 kms followed by a playing and training session...
I guess the mixing of treats is something I have not tried and it does sound effective... I do already use chicken pieces and kibble along with doggie biscuits... Fried eggs, bananas, etc.., have not been tried with him... I guess mixing treats and having a larger variety might work better..

And no, I dont think i want him to lose his friendly nature.. I searched for almost 3 weeks and saw numerous pups, before I chose Danny... Dont want him to lose out on his awesome nature and temperament...

Thanks for the tips... Will surely try and let you know if they work...

good luck and hang in there.

my puppy is also the friendly type and i love him for it.

PS: try to play and train first....then go on walks. he will lose some of his energy this way and be more calm when walking.

Walk after playing and training is a good idea...

When i take daisy on walks, she calms down after the first 15 mins.....i mean she's much more well behaved after the first 15 mins....



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